Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Forskolin (FSK; an activator of adenylyl cyclase) and cortisol synergistically increase the concentration of oxytocin receptors (OTRs) in rabbit amnion cells. The aims of this study were to characterize potential physiological regulators of OTR concentrations acting through adenylyl cyclase and to clarify the mechanisms of potentiation by cAMP and cortisol. Both isoproterenol (ISO) and parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) elevated amnion cell cAMP levels and OTR concentrations. The effects of ISO and PTHrP on OTR were potentiated by cortisol. Cortisol had no effect on the ability of ISO or PTHrP to stimulate adenylyl cyclase activity, and cAMP did not affect the number or affinity of glucocorticoid receptors in whole cells or in cytosol. Adenylyl cyclase activation, however, caused conversion of mifepristone (RU486) from a glucocorticoid antagonist to agonist. Thus, mifepristone elevated OTR receptor concentrations in the presence of FSK. In contrast, a structurally related glucocorticoid antagonist, onapristone (ZK98 299), was unaffected by cAMP. Because glucocorticoid receptors bound to mifepristone are capable of interacting with DNA, whereas onapristone-occupied receptors are not, we conclude that cAMP affects glucocoticoid receptor-DNA interactions, accounting for the synergistic effects of cAMP and cortisol on OTRs.
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PMID:Effectors of cyclic adenosine 5'-monophosphate up-regulating-oxytocin receptors in rabbit amnion cells: isoproterenol, parathyroid hormone-related protein, and potentiation by cortisol. 852 7

The purpose of this study was to determine in vivo the dose response relationship between beta-adrenergic receptor (BAR) agonist concentration and various elements of the BAR cascade: receptor density, hormone-stimulable adenylyl cyclase activity, and contraction inhibition. A previously described, chronically-catheterized ovine model was used. Ritodrine was infused continuously over 24 h in 22 mixed-breed sheep. Each animal received a single, constant infusion rate. Myometrial biopsies were obtained before and after the drug infusions. BAR density was determined using tritiated dihydroalprenolol. Adenylyl cyclase activity was determined using the Gilman competitive protein-binding assay. Intermittent oxytocin boluses were given into the maternal aorta and contractile response was determined. Infusion rates of 0.06-4.0 micrograms/kg/min yielded steady-state ritodrine serum concentrations of 5-168 ng/ml. No significant correlation was found between the ritodrine concentration and the magnitude of decrease in BAR density. Significant correlations existed, however, between the ritodrine concentration and both the magnitude of decrease in adenylyl cyclase activity and the loss of contraction inhibition. There was no correlation noted between the BAR cascade alterations and the loss of contraction inhibition. Despite significant reductions in receptor density (down regulation) and dose-related reductions in hormone-stimulable adenylyl cyclase activity (uncoupling), ritodrine at low concentrations was still able to inhibit oxytocin-induced contractions, i.e., tachyphylaxis did not occur. Tachyphylaxis appeared to correlate only with the serum ritodrine concentration. Hence, alterations in the BAR cascade do not necessarily equate with a loss of end-organ response (tachyphylaxis). Previous concepts based on in vitro studies about the interaction of the BAR agonist with its receptor, the subsequent generation of intracellular messengers, and the resultant end-organ response may not apply in the intact animal.
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PMID:Alterations in ovine myometrial beta-adrenergic cascade do not mediate tachyphylaxis to ritodrine. 879 87